Maximizing Wanted Pregnancies - Minimizing Abortions

This post assumes the current situation under Roe v. Wade with relationship to abortion. It does not address the morality or advisability of abortion since this issue has already been discussed on this forum. Because it only addresses the question of how to bring about conditions such that unwanted pregnancies and the abortions that are sought because of them may be kept to a minimum, situations in which the termination of wanted pregnancies, either because they have been deemed necessary by a medical professional for the preservation of the life or health of the mother or because of various genetic problems impacting the viability of the unborn baby, are not addressed.

I have undertaken to answer the question: how can it be assured that as many pregnancies as possible are wanted pregnancies--or stated another way, as few pregnancies as possible are unwanted pregancies--so that abortions are as rare as possible? This question assumes that not even the most pro-choice individual finds abortions to be desirable in and of themselves but merely that free access to abortion is essential in a far from perfect world. It must be admitted, even by the most pro-life individual, that the world we live in is far from perfect.

In my opinion, we are never going to live in a world where all pregnancies are wanted. There will always be rapists and molesters who impregnate their victims. Such traumas are devastating enough to the emotional well being of the victims even without a resulting pregnancy. It would take a remarkable woman, indeed, to want to be pregnant from a rape and it seems likely that children may not safely bear children even if they so desired. These are examples of instances that, for the foreseeable future, are likely to continue to result in unwanted pregnancies.

I see no viable way to prevent these problems. Few individuals whose proclivities run to violent violation of unwilling victims and sex with children seem to be able to control themselves. There is some evidence (this is the abstract; the study itself is available in PDF format by pressing 'PDF') that, if they can become engaged in group therapy (as opposed to merely court-enforced attendance) and will admit to their culpability in the offence, progress can be made toward limiting repeat offenses. This conference report emphasizes the need for rapists to both accept responsibility for their actions and recognize the short-term and long-term consequences of their actions (p. 19) if they are to be successful in their life after release from prison. Even successful rehabilitation does not prevent the crimes, but it does limit future crimes of this nature, which does bear positively on our question. How are such successes achieved? This is beyond my scope of knowledge.

The only preventative measures of which I can conceive would be if we could discover, in advance of their crimes, which individuals will commit rapes or molest and separate them from society before the fact. It seems unlikely that a method of such discovery will be soon forthcoming. Even if we could discover genetic or psychological traits that mark likely rapists or molesters, unless or possibly even if such traits could be proven to infallibly point out future offenders, separating out such individuals before they have actually committed any crime is constitutionally problematic.

In a different category are women who, for example, would like to get a college degree and make her mark in some profession or vocation but, unfortunately, the condom broke at her most fertile moment, in other words, unplanned pregnancies that pose an impediment to the course of life planned by the mother.

Such instances can be minimized by the consistent use of more than one reliable birth control method, for example, a condom containing a spermicide and the pill. They could be eliminated altogether, of course, by abstaining from intercourse until ready for children, however, few adults, especially married adults are likely to go this route. It is, however, my preferred route for unmarried teens for whom pregnancy would completely alter their desired life course.

The sex-drive, being as strong as it is, especially in the teen-age years, it seems likely that, even with a commitment to abstinence on the part of teen girls, some will fail in their commitment and have intercourse that could result in an unwanted pregnancy. The availability of multiple forms of birth control to such teens and an understanding of their proper use and a commitment on their part to use more than one form of birth control properly and consistently will greatly reduce the occurrence of unwanted pregnancy as discussed in the above paragraph. To provide abstinence training with no availability or knowledge of the proper use of multiple forms of birth control will likely result in more unwanted pregnancies.

Some might object that providing birth control and education in their use to young teens will result in an increase of intercourse among young teens. While I don't know that this would inevitably result, I concede the possibility. I would find that preferable, however, to the alternative, namely, unmarried teens having unprotected or improperly protected sex resulting in unwanted pregnancies and/or the transmission of STD's.

The Editor